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REV.    SAMUEL    T.    CLARKE. 


FOLLOWED   BY 

ADDRESSES    AND    LETTERS. 


Pkinted   for    Private    Circulatio.m 
1892. 


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At  the  Funeral  of  Hon.  William  F.  Wheeler, 

IVJSDNESDAV,    JUNE  Sth,   jS<)2. 

E.    ^t  the  ajousr: 

1.  Prayer  with  the  Family, Rev.  Isaac  G.  Og^den. 

[  This  was  at  3  P.  M.,  immediately  after  which  the  caslcet  was  borne 

to  the  church,  where  it  could  be  approached  for  an 

hour  by  all  the  neighbors.] 

2.  (a)    Prayer,  at  4  p.  M.,  by  the  Pastor,    .    .      Rez).  S.  T.  Clarke. 

(b)  Scripture  Lesson,    ......    Read  by  Rev.  Dr.  IVaith. 

[c)  Benediction, Rev.  I.  G.  Ogden. 


EE.   3lt  the  CThuvch 


Dr.  H'aith. 


Organ  Prelude  and  Anthem. 

Pray'er  of  Invocation, 1 

Lessons:    Eccl.  xii.  ;   John  xvii.,  .    .  > 
Hymn. 

Prayer Dr.  IVaiih. 

Hymn. 

6.  SIEBiH(PN   (LCor.  xv.  58), Pastor. 

7.  Address,      Re~'.  I.  G.  Ogden. 

Hymn. 

Address, Dr.  Waith. 

Prayer  and  Benediction, Pastor. 

(Crmrtcnj : 

Procession  thither  by  way  of  the  mountain  road. 

Prayer, Dr.  Waith. 

Committal,      Pastor 


23.'55n4 


Scnnoiu 

•Steadfast,  unmovable,  always    abounding   in    the    work 
of  the    Lord."      I.  Cor.  xv.,  58. 


Many  years  ago  there  stood  in  the  city  of 
Hartford  a  remarkable  tree  that  was  regarded 
with  a  truly  human  interest  and  affection  by 
all  the  inhabitants.  The  venerable  Charter  Oak, 
as  it  was  called,  had  become  a  popular  idol, 
because  it  had  safely  hidden  and  preserved 
in  its  capacious  heart  the  instrument  which 
insured  valued  civil  rights  to  that  whole  com- 
munity. The  writer  well  remembers  a  wild 
and  stormy  night,  during  whose  dark  and 
windy  hours  the  old  monarch,  banded  about 
as    it    had    been    by    the    citizens,    with    clamps 


6  Sermon. 

of  iron,  fell,  and  great  was  the  fall  of  it.  In 
the  morning  following  great  crowds  gathered 
and  bewailed  the  common  loss.  We  are 
assembled  to-day  in  view  of  an  analogous 
calamity.  In  the  great  heart  of  our  departed 
friend,  for  many  years  all  the  choicest  interests, 
civil,  social,  commercial,  and  religious,  of  this 
county  had  found  a  warm  and  safe  abiding 
place.  We  mourn  to-day  the  fall  of  a  human 
Charter  Oak,  one  who  was  ever  steadfast, 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord.  It  is  very  rare  that  those  who  par- 
ticipate in  any  great  battle  remain  long  on 
the  field  after  the  action  is  over.  This  valley 
has  been  for  fifty  years  a  great  battle  field, 
on  which  sturdy  warriors  have  wrested  from 
reluctant  nature  the  rich  treasures  which  she 
guarded  so  faithfully.  One  of  the  leaders  in 
this  long  action  lies  motionless  among  us  to- 
day. On  the  battle  field  where  he  commenced 
the    long   conflict    he   has  both    lived  and  died, 


Sermon.  7 

not,  however,  until  he  saw  victory  manifest 
itself  in  these  streets,  happy  homes  and  circling 
families,  where  reigned,  when  he  arrived,  only 
the  thick  shadows  of  a  wilderness. 

In  enlarging  upon  the  lives  of  prominent 
citizens  there  are  three  methods  that  obtain. 
They  are  either  treated  in  a  cold,  statistical  man- 
ner, or  in  the  commercial  method  recounting 
how  much  money  they  have  made,  or  in  an 
emotional  manner  that  exclaims  ''how  we  miss 
the  departed  one!"  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
follow  either  of  these  methods  to-day,  but  rather 
briefly  to  characterize  our  departed  friend's 
life,  and  to  draw  from  it  certain  lessons  that 
may  be  of  practical  value  to  this  large  con- 
gregation assembled  from  this  and  adjacent 
towns.  We  call  a  gifted  person  who  takes  a 
cold,  lifeless  block  of  stone  and  cuts  out  of  it 
a  figure  that  can  neither  move  nor  talk  a 
sculptor.  How  much  more  true  is  it  that  one 
who  seizes  upon   inanimate   objects  and  so  uses 


8  Sermon. 

them  as  to  mould  them  into  new  form,  who 
possesses  in  his  mind  a  high  ideal  which  he 
gradually  works  into  a  model  community,  who 
takes  the  days  as  they  come  and  carves  them 
into  a  noble  life,  is  in  a  far  higher  sense  a 
sculptor,  whose  work  is  living,  breathing  and 
priceless.  The  fanciful  imaginings  of  the  sculp- 
tor and  poet  have  a  commercial  value.  How 
much  more  precious  are  memories  like  those 
which  cluster  about  this  silent  bier,  decked 
with  the  fragrant  pine  which  he  so  truly  loved, 
and  to  which  he  owed  so  much.  It  is  difficult 
to  know  where  to  begin  a  funeral  resume  of 
such  a  life  as  this  has  been.  There  are  those 
whose  personality  impresses  us,  but  of  whom 
when  absent  we  can  remember  but  little;  but  it 
was  a  decided  peculiarity  of  the  departed  that  he 
was  a  man  about  whom  all  can  remember  so 
much,  about  whom  the  recollections  surge  back 
so  vivid  and  multitudinous  that  it  is  hard  to 
tell  where  to  begin  or  to  stop.     Before  noticing 


iacrmon.  9 

the  great  lineaments  of  his  character  it  will 
be  interesting  to  dwell  upon  some  of  the 
general  impressions  which  he  made  from  day 
to  day  upon  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 
William  F.  Wheeler  was  born  in  Hancock, 
Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  in  iSii.  In  1834 
he  came  to  Olean  and  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  with  the  late  Henry  Dusenbury.  Dur- 
ing half  a  century  that  firm  has  continued. 
He  united  with  the  church  in  Deposit,  in  1831, 
during  a  revival  of  religion,  under  that  fervent 
preacher  Father  Orton,  and  ever  since,  his 
whole  heart  has  been  engaged  in  spreading  the 
Kingdom  of  his  beloved  Master.  In  addition 
to  the  development  of  all  his  lumber  interests 
in  this  section,  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  ]Michi- 
gan,  Mr.  Wheeler  was  connected  with  the 
establishment  of  the  Portville  tannery  in  1S70; 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Olean  in  1871. 
Always  deeply  interested  in  politics  and  active 
in    the  support  of  sound   views,  he  at  last  con- 


10  Sermon. 

sented  that  his  name  be  used  as  a  candidate 
for  the  Legislature,  to  which  he  was  duly 
elected,  and  in  which  he  served  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  constituents,  -and  with  great 
credit  to  hniiself  as  a  citizen  and  public  man. 
He  esteemed  it  an  equal  honor  when  he  was 
sent  by  his  fellow  Presbyterians  to  the  Synod 
and  General  Assembly,  in  both  of  which  he 
sat  as  an  Elder  and  magnified  his  office.  His 
business  career  was  well  characterized  by  one 
of  the  public  journals,  when  it  said  that  it 
was  conspicuously  marked  by  these  three  rare 
qualities :     sagacity,    integrity   and    enterprise. 

Mr.  Wheeler  leaves,  as  one  of  his  most 
valuable  contributions  to  the  world,  a  family 
which  was  ever  a  subject  of  the  deepest  interest 
and  thought  to  him,  consisting  of  a  wife,  two 
sons  and  two  daughters,  in  whom  reappear  the 
noble  traits  which  so  well  distinguished  their 
departed   head. 

Every      one     was     struck     as     he     came     in 


Sermon.  11 

contact  with  this  strong  life  with  the  breadth 
of  Mr.  Wheeler's  enjoyments.  Some  people 
have  but  one  or  two  things  which  afford 
them  pleasure  in  their  hours  of  relaxation.  To 
these  they  often  become  slaves,  being  lovers 
of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God.  Most 
of  us  are  extremely  limited  in  the  range  of  our 
pleasures.  A  man  may  be  enormously  rich, 
and  yet  not  have  a  single  thing  that  he 
honestly  enjoys.  If  he  has  one,  it  may  be 
really  a  source  to  him  of  evil  rather  than  good. 
But  Mr.  Wheeler  keenly  relished  a  very  wide 
circle  of  diverse  sources  of  enjoyment.  If  any 
one  of  these  failed  he  could  easily  turn  to 
another.  Not  one  of  them  was  ever  likely  to 
result  in  evil.  Not  one  of  them  was  dependent 
upon  the  possession  of  great  wealth  to  obtain. 
He  most  thoroughly  and  heartily  took  pleasure 
in  business,  in  church,  in  politics,  in  trees,  in 
horses,  in  the  Bible,  in  singing  in  his  family, 
in  ministers,   in  the  anecdotes  of  his  long  life. 


12  Sermon. 

in  being  read  to,  and  in  Portville.  But  in 
many  other  common  attractions  which  fasci- 
nate others,  he  seemed  to  find  no  delight. 
Theatres,  novels,  horse  races  and  games  of 
chance  were  to  him  dull  and  stupid.  This  was 
certainly  a  unique  peculiarity.  It  was  a  wonder 
that  a  man  with  such  great  business  interests 
resting  upon  his  mind,  with  all  the  necessary 
anxieties  which  they  involved,  could  turn  from 
them  so  (juickly  and  solace  himself  in  the 
things  mentioned.  So  healthy,  however,  was 
his  soul  that  he  found  genuine  and  immediate 
happiness,  not  in  artificial  and  expensive  joys, 
but  in  the  simple,  natural  objects  with  which 
he  in  common  with  almost  every  other  human 
being   was   surrounded. 

Any  one  acquainted  with  our  friend  must 
have  remarked  again  many  times  that  he  was 
possessed  of  a  very  unusual  focusing  power. 
It  is  a  rare  trait  of  character  that  enables  its 
owner  to  bring  all   the  separated  rays  of  influ- 


Sermon.  13 

ence  within  bis  reach  at  a  moment's  notice  in 
combination  and  activity  to  play  upon  some 
single  and  little  point.  He  had  himself  well 
in  hand.  There  was  not  a  truant  power  in  his 
nature.  Neither  was  there  any  that  did  not 
obey  the  call  of  their  master  without  delay  or 
hesitation.  He  was  able  on  the  shortest  notice 
to  rivet  his  entire  being  as  he  did  his  remark- 
able eyes  upon  any  given  matter  that  came 
under  his  observation.  This  was  done,  too,  with 
a  rapidity  and  comprehensiveness  and  force  that 
was  like  machinery.  A  person  who  expected 
to  catch  him  napping  in  any  business  matter 
was  rudely  awakened  to  an  appreciation  of  the 
kind  of  man  he  was  dealing  with,  and  felt  as 
though  he  had  been  struck  with  a  sledge 
hammer.  He  was  not  only  quick  to  discern, 
but  quick  to  decide,  and  quick  to  act.  There 
are  men  in  great  numbers  who  possess  unques- 
tioned abilities,  but  who  are  slow  in  bringing 
them  to  bear    upon    any    given    subject.       They 


14  Sermon. 

are  not  on  call.  They  ask  the  indulgence  of 
the  customary  thirty  days  before  making  up 
their  mind;  they  hesitate  and  delay  and  post- 
pone, though  they  may  ultimately  fall  in  line 
and  do  admirable  service.  But  with  Mr. 
Wheeler  you  always  felt  that  he  instantly 
brought  to  bear  his  judgment,  his  will,  and  all 
his  activity  upon  anything  that  interested  him. 
There  was  also  in  his  disposition  a  most 
stalwart  positiveness,  that  would  naturally  make 
him  leader  in  whatsoever  he  undertook.  In 
this  day  of  uncertainty  and  non-committal 
weakness,  in  which  many  through  indifference 
or  indolence  fail  to  take  any  position  upon 
the  great  topics  of  the  hour,  in  state,  in  church 
and  in  business,  we  cannot  value  too  highly 
one  who  first  thoroughly  examined  the  ground, 
and  then  firmly  occupied  his  position  and 
never  surrendered.  He  was  a  man  of  decided 
convictions,  and  conviction  with  him  meant 
action.      Not    only    in    little    matters,    but    in 


Sermon.  15 

grave  concerns  he  was  up  and  down,  giving 
forth  no  uncertain  sound,  positive  at  all  times. 
There  were  but  few  subjects  that  were  worth  con- 
sideration upon  which  he  had  not  made  up  his 
mind,  and  it  required  no  astute  cross -examiner 
to  extract  from  him  his  testimony.  Strange 
as  it  would  appear  to  one  who  had  never  seen 
him,  there  was  mingled  with  all  these  traits  a 
beautiful  playfulness  that  flashed  up  even  after 
a  heated  discussion,  as  quickly  as  the  sun  often 
shines  after  a  summer  storm.  Never  old,  he 
was  often  as  playful  as  a  boy  with  children 
and  with  the  loved  domestic  animals  that 
abounded  about  his  home.  Whether  it  was  a 
deer  or  a  colt  or  a  kitten,  each  seemed  to 
recognize  the  hand  of  one  who  wanted  to 
hold  dumb  intercourse  with  it.  It  would  be 
pleasant  to  continue  this  familiar  detail  of  what 
all  know  of  the  more  private  characteristics  of 
our  departed  friend  as  observed  by  those  that 
met    him    in    the    familiar    intercourse    of    daily 


16  Seimon. 

life,  but  we  must  turn  from  them  to  regard 
him    in    another   aspect. 

He  was  emphatically  a  square  built  and 
thoroughly  square  man.  The  four  sides  of  _this 
square  corresponded  to  his  four  great  relations 
with  his  fellow  men.  In  foreign  countries  those 
who  acquire  prominence  in  the  community  are 
apt  to  seclude  themselves  in  parks  behind  higli 
impenetrable  palings,  and  withdraw  into  strict 
privacy.  Mr.  Wheeler  lived  in  the  world, 
came  in  contact  with  all  its  activities,  and 
in  four  great  relations  won  for  himself  the 
proud  reputation  of  standing  true  and  plumb 
with  all  mankind.  It  was  a  truly  charac- 
teristic thing  when  he  removed  all  fences 
about  his  pleasant  home ;  for  he  was  constitu- 
tionally social,  and  desired  to  enter  into  relations 
with  every  one  in  whatever  capacity  he  could 
serve    the   community. 

Let  us  notice  the  first  side  of  this  square. 
He  was  pre-eminently  a  man.      He  was  intensely 


Sermon.  17 

masculine.  His  commanding  figure,  his  strong 
gestures,  his  deep -carved  countenance,  his 
forcible  speech,  all  his  original  personality, 
as  he  walked  through  these  streets,  fearing 
no  man,  and  shunning  no  man,  or  as  he 
rose  to  speak  in  a  meeting,  were  those  of  a 
true  man.  He  meant  to  succeed ;  he  was 
willing  to  fight  for  it ;  and  he  was  bound  to 
conquer.  To  his  very  last  day  he  retained  his 
strong  manhood  in  every  respect.  He  never 
was  an  invalid  or  a  suppliant  for  sympathy; 
and  on  his  sick  -  bed  insisted  to  the  last  in 
waiting  upon  himself  and  offering  consolation 
to  all  about  him.  All  when  they  came  in 
contact  with  him  felt  that  they  were  dealing 
with  a  man.  He  would  do  the  work  easily  and 
cheerfully  that  he  asked  any  one  else  to  do ; 
there  was  no  task  which  he  regarded  as  beneath 
him  or  considered  himself  above  performing, 
no  manual  labor  to  which  he  would  confess 
that  he   was   not  equal.      In   the   woods,   on   the 


18  Sermon. 

raft,  among  horses,  on  the  farm,  in  the  bank, 
he  aimed  to  know  about  everything ;  and  if 
occasion  required  would  teach  any  employee 
what  he  had  learned  by  practice  himself.  So 
into  all  that  a  man  should  enter  he  entered, 
and  was  equally  at  home  on  a  lumber  pile  or 
in  the  assembly  room  at  Albany.  Fully 
developed  manhood  was  the  first  side  of  this 
square. 

He  was,  in  the  second  place,  a  model 
father.  His  home  was  a  place  far  more  im- 
portant to  him  than  his  office.  The  duties 
devolving  upon  him  there  he  regarded  as 
important  as  any  which  he  had.  He  had  a 
theory  that  if  a  man's  family  did  not  turn  out 
creditably  it  was  his  own  fault,  and  that  the 
man  who  neglected  his  offspring  for  his  ledgers 
was  guilty  of  sin.  So  he  watched  his  growing 
children  more  closely  than  he  did  any  business 
interest,  and  was  more  concerned  about  their 
condition    than    he  was  about  that  of  oil  fields 


Sermon.  19 

or  dividends.  He  guided  their  education  wisely, 
but  said  often  that  it  was  about  their  characters 
he  was  most  concerned.  Both  by  precept  and 
example  he  imprinted  upon  their  minds  all 
the  good  maxims  which  a  varied  experience  had 
taught  him.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  family 
prayer,  and  he  made  it  always  an  important 
feature  in  the  history  of  every  day.  The  daily 
song  and  the  daily  chapter  he  regarded  as  more 
necessary  than  the  daily  paper.  He  brought  up 
his  family,  and  God  enabled  him  to  do  it  well. 
He  was  so  successful  that  they  have  all  turned 
out  as  he  desired,  and  not  one  of  them  has 
ever  been  anything  but  a  source  of  comfort 
and    of    joy    to    him. 

Let  us  notice  the  third  side  of  the  square. 
He  was  a  Christian.  He  was  never  ashamed 
of  it,  and  never  concealed  it.  Sooner  would 
he  cut  off  his  right  hand  than  he  would  be 
ranked  with  unbelievers  or  atheists.  It  was  a 
part    of    his    bone    and    marrow.       Religion    to 


20  Sermon. 

him  was  greater  than  business,  and  he  labored 
to  stamp  it  upon  all  his  commercial  interests. 
It  was  the  master  force  in  his  life.  In  his 
early  life  he  was  untiring  in  revival  labors,  and 
in  later  life  in  establishing  churches  in  all  this 
county,  and  in  aiding  commendable  charities 
throughout  the  country.  The  Randolph  Home 
for  Poor  Children,  the  Freedmen's  Colleges, 
the  i)ul)lic  libraries,  the  feeble  churches  of  all 
denominations,  the  religious  institutions  at 
Hickory  and  in  Michigan  were  constant  re- 
cipients  of    his    benefactions. 

In  the  fourth  place,  he  was  a  Presbyterian 
Elder.  He  was  elected  to  this  position  in 
this  church  in  October,  i860.  Having  sat 
under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher ; 
he  had  something  of  the  old-fashioned  ideas 
of  the  dignity  of  the  church  and  of  its  offices. 
In  the  Session  he  was  a  power,  in  the  Prayer 
Meeting  a  guiding  spirit,  in  the  Sunday  School 
an    able   executive.       He    was    well    acquainted 


Sermon.  21 

with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  had  very 
positive  convictions  as  to  its  merits  and  defects. 
He  was  well  grounded  in  the  methods  of  church 
government,  and  made  a  frequent  study  of  all 
the  questions  in  which  elders  take  a  special 
interest.  As  a  Presbyterian  church  officer  he 
stood  firm  throughout  the  county  in  regard  to 
all  matters  that  involved  religious  principles, 
on  occasion  writing  to  Assemblymen  and  Con- 
gressmen upon  matters  in  which  he  feared  they 
were  not  inclined  to  take  the  correct  position, 
and  by  influences  private  and  public  he  suc- 
ceeded in  influencing  legislation  in  the  interest 
of  all  that  was  commendable  and  praiseworth)-. 
While  in  no  sense  a  partisan  or  sectarian,  he 
knew  what  he  believed,  and  maintained  it  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  State  and  Church.  In 
examinations  of  candidates  for  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, he  was  always  relied  upon  as  able  to 
arrive  at  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  experience 
and  purpose  of  those  who  presented  themselves, 


22  Sermon. 

and  never  would  consent  to  admit  those  to 
church  fellowship  whom  he  regarded  as  not 
yet  fully  prepared  for  those  solemn  responsi- 
bilities. Kind  and  gentle  with  the  timid,  he 
was  never  deceived  by  the  insincere,  but  con- 
scientiously guarded  the  portals  of  the  sanctuary 
as  one  who  must  himself  in  the  future  render 
an  account  of  his  stewardship.  No  pastor  ever 
had  an  elder  who  entered  more  fully  into  all 
the  activities  of  the  church,  and  who  was  more 
truly  a  support  upon  which  to  lean  than 
William    F.   Wheeler. 

In  bidding  farewell  to  our  beloved  friend, 
then,  there  are  two  pointed  lessons  which  we 
cannot    fail    to   note. 

First,  all  our  young  people  may  well  learn 
from  his  example,  that  religion  is  not  designed 
in  any  sense  to  diminish  innocent  human 
pleasures.  In  his  life  every  good  earthly 
enjoyment  was  entered  into  most  fully,  and 
without    interfering    in   any   way  with   the   sane- 


Sermon.  23 

tions  of  his  religion.  This  always  retained  the 
throne.  Christianity  elevated  in  his  case  every 
earthly  form  of  pleasure.  It  heightened  all  his 
enjoyments,  and  it  stood  by  him  at  all  times 
and  in  all    places. 

Second,  we  must  learn  that  when  all  things 
else  failed  to  minister  to  him.  Christian 
faith  watched  by  his  bedside  and  sustained 
him.  He  ceased  to  enquire  about  the  tannery 
or  farm  or  bank,  and  seemed  to  have  lost  all 
interest  in  them,  but  he  never  ceased  to  call 
his  family  about  his  bed-side  for  the  daily 
prayer  and  to  sing  his  favorite  hymns,  in 
which  he  audibly  joined  until  unconscious- 
ness dropped  its  curtain  over  his  lofty  soul. 
What  a  lesson  as  to  the  true  wealth  and  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  acquiring  a  vested  interest  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  All  else  must  fail,  to 
all  else  the  human  soul  at  last  becomes  totally 
indifferent,  but  this,  like  the  Word  of  God, 
abideth  forever.      And  so   it   came   to   pass  that 


24  Sermon. 

his  last  words,  when  he  became  aware  that  he 
was  making  a  final  and  total  assignment  of  all 
that  it  had  taken  a  long  life  to  accumulate, 
were  those  beautiful  expressions  to  his  beloved 
daughter,  as  she  leaned  over  him,  wondering 
if  he  was  regretting  what  most  would  regard 
as  an  immense  loss,  "It  is  all  right;  it  is 
all    right." 

As  the  first  pilgrims  from  England  looked 
at  the  ships  which  had  brought  them  over  from 
the  mother-land,  spreading  their  sails  for  the 
return  voyage,  and  waved  their  hands  to  the 
friends  on  board  who  were  going  back,  and 
felt  that  they  were  those  left  behind  and 
bereaved  and  in  need  of  sympathy,  so  we 
to-day,  as  his  stately  bark  slowly  sails  down 
the  bay,  carrying  with  it  his  soul  and  the  pearl 
of  great  price  which  he  had  obtained  in  this 
far  country,  seem  to  realize  that  he  needs  no 
sympathy ;  for  we  are  those  that  are  to  be 
pitied,  while  he  has  gone   home   to   the   greater. 


Sermon.  25 

the  more  blessed,  the  happy  land,  far,  f;ir  away. 
We  can  follow  him  as  he  meets  his  old  business 
partner,  and  as  they  sit  down  together  on  the 
banks  of  the  great  river,  as  they  did  beside 
this  rolling  Allegany,  and  consult  and  plan, 
as  we  know  they  are  doing,  for  new  enterprises 
and  new  ventures  and  new  projects  which  shall 
redound,  in  the  new  country  in  which  they 
once  more  set  forth  as  pioneers,  to  the  glory 
of  God,  as  did  all  their  projects  here  below. 
Freed  from  all  earthly  diseases,  they  are  young 
once  more  together ;  neither  are  idle  nor  can 
be,  but  alert  and  active  in  the  interests  of  that 
better  country  from  which  they  shall  go  no 
more  out  forever. 


BDDress  b\?  IRew  llsaac  (5.  ©a^cn. 


I  have  been  in  the  pews  instead  of  the 
pulpit  for  the  past  four  months,  practicing 
instead  of  preaching.  True  practicing  and 
preaching  ought  to  go  together,  but  they  do 
not  always  ;  and  sometimes  practicing  is  not 
so  easy  as  preaching.  Being  uncertain  whether 
my  voice  will  serve  me,  my  remarks  will 
necessarily  be  very  brief,  though  I  am  full  of 
the  spirit  of  the  occasion,  and  feel  that  I  have 
met  to-day  a  great  personal  loss  m  the  burial 
of  one  of  the  best  friends  I  ever  had.  And 
besides,  I  feel  that  after  the  true  and  graphic 
sketch  of  the  life  and  marked  peculiarities  of 
the    departed,  to    which   we   have   just    listened, 


aODrcse.  27 

very  little  remains  to  be  said  ;  yet  I  cannot 
refrain  from  adding  my  little  tribute  of 
affection  and  respect  to  the  memory  of  this 
"  Father  in  Israel." 

When  I  came  here  some  thirty-four  years 
ago  to  be  Pastor  of  this  church,  I  early  made 
the  acquaintance  of  three  men  whom  I  soon 
learned  to  appreciate  and  trust  for  their  sterling 
qualities  of  head  and  heart.  I  did  not  fully 
appreciate  them  while  here  as  I  learned  to  do 
afterwards.  These  three  men  were  exceedingly 
unlike  in  physical  appearance  as  well  as  mental 
capacity.  Each  was  himself,  unmistakably  so  ; 
each  created  in  a  separate  mould,  and  each 
working  out  in  his  own  way  his  individual  man- 
hood. Yet  these  men  were  also  all  alike  in  the 
great  essentials  of  Christian  character  ;  all  three 
believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  all  bowed 
to  His  supremacy  ;  all  were  loyal  to  Him,  and 
all  were  active  and  devoted  members  of  this 
church.     One  of  these,  Henry  Dusenbury,  made 


28  B^Dress. 

his  exodus  from  his  tabernacle  of  the  body  to 
the  house  of  many  mansions  over  thirty  years 
ago,  and  the  savor  of  his  piety  still  lingers 
among  this  people ;  another,  John  G.  Mersereau, 
departed  some  nine  years  ago ;  and  to-day  we 
are  to  bury  William  F.  Wheeler,  the  last  of 
this  remarkable  trio.  It  is  seldom  that  a  church 
is  favored  with  the  presence  and  influence  of 
one  such  man  in  the  first  forty  years  of  its 
existence ;  you,  Christian  brethren,  have  been 
especially  favored  in  having  been  given  three 
such  stalwart  men  among  you. 

Who  can  take  this  man's  place?  No  one. 
He  filled  his  own  place,  as  each  of  us  is  to 
fill  his  own  place.  Shall  we  mourn  for  him? 
Yes,  and  no.  Why  should  we  mourn  that  he 
has  just  entered  on  a  larger  and  nobler  life? 
To  the  believer  in  Jesus,  dying  is  only  begin- 
ning to  live.  No,  we  may  not  mourn  that  he 
is  now  crowned  victor  over  sin  and  death. 
But    we  may   mourn   for   his    loss   to   us.     How 


a&Dress.  29 

great  that  loss  is,  you  will  learn  more  and  more 
as  the  days  go  by. 

Permit,  in  closing,  a  reference  to  myself. 
Under  the  great  trials  that  have  recently  come 
to  me,  I  have  been  wonderfully  sustained  and 
comforted.  In  my  experience,  I  have  found 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  recorded  in  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  :  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  upon  thee." 
I  have  peace,  not  perfect,  but  peace,  and  I 
find  it  by  renouncing  all  trust  in  self,  and 
in  staying  myself  in  God.  Every  day,  I 
commit  myself  anew  to  the  Almighty  Saviour  ; 
and  when  He  has  His  hold  upon  me,  I  know  I 
am  safe  for  no  one  can  "pluck  me  out  of  His 
hands." 

May  my  experience  of  God's  sustaining  grace 
be  the  experience  of  you  all,  dear  afflicted 
friends;  only  may  you  have  perfect  peace,  ''the 
peace  of  God  which  ^^asseth  all  understanding." 


B^^res5  b\?  Br.  Maitb. 


A  noted  divine  in  our  country  preached  a 
remarkable  sermon-:^  to  develop  the  theme  that 
"Every  Man's  Life  is  a  Plan  of  God" — a  plan 
sometimes  marred  or  ruined  by  the  man's  own 
perversity,  but  nevertheless  a  plan,  or  outline, 
which  it  is  one's  duty  and  privilege  to  fill  out, 
and  embracing  things  which  it  would  be  the 
true  significance  and  glory  of  his  being  to 
accomplish. 

It  has  been  mine  by  a  long,  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  our  dear  departed  brother,  to  observe 
the    remarkable    fidelity   and    perseverance   with 


*  Horace  Bushnell  :      first   sermon  with  above  title  in   the  vohime 
^  Sermons  /or  the  Neiu  Life." 


BDDrcss.  31 

which  he  ever  seemed  to  be  filling  out  the  plan 
providentially  sketched  for  him  by  One  who 
sets  us  all  our  tasks,  and  has  our  times  in  His 
hand.  I  think  I  may  say  with  confidence  there 
is  not  one  here  who  with  clear  vision  can  look 
back  farther,  or  so  far,  along  the  line  of  his 
endeavors  as  I  can  ;  for  I  remember  him  dis- 
tinctly when  he  and  his  brother,  the  late  Mr. 
Addison  J.  Wheeler,  were  young,  unmarried  men, 
rejoicing  in  their  strength,  active,  daring,  mus- 
cular, never  shrinking  in  the  rough  struggle  with 
pioneer  hardships  and  dangers  from  any  deed 
or  exposure  in  forest  or  in  flood,  which  fell  to 
the  lot  of  men  in  their  calling.  I  can  see  as 
in  a  panorama  how  our  friend  went  steadily 
forward,  appearing  with  dignity  and  credit  in 
every  part  of  his  career,  and  in  every  character 
he  was  called  to  assume  —  employer,  merchant, 
organizer,  financier,  husband,  father,  public- 
spirited  citizen,  church  officer,  delegate,  com- 
missioner, legislator.     In  all  these  characters,  he 


32  2lC>0rc6S. 

ever  conscientiously  sought  to  do  the  work  of 
an  honest,  God-fearing  man.  And  his  whole 
life  was  a  success.  God  blessed  him  from  the 
beginning,  crowning  his  days  with  lovingkind- 
ness  and  tender  mercies.  So  far  as  we  can 
see,  he  honestly  and  creditably  filled  out  the 
plan  by  which  the  Eternal  Goodness  intended 
him  to  glorify  God. 

And  now  we  are  to  learn,  as  it  was  hardly 
possible  for  us  to  know  before,  how  large  a  space 
he  filled  in  the  counsels  and  the  works  of  his 
fellowmen.  Well  as  I  knew  that  he  was  press- 
ing close  upon  the  boundary  where  all  thought- 
ful men  must  begin  to  contemplate  the  solemn 
possibilities  of  the  life  to  come,  I  must  confess 
that  when  I  saw  the  name  of  William  F. 
Wheeler  in  the  obituary  columns  of  the  city 
papers  I  was  hardly  prepared  to  measure  the 
significance  of  the  announcement. 

We  must  fall  back  upon  the  comforting 
thought    that    the    good   and    wise    Lord    whom 


we  profess  to  love  and  obey  knows  when  to 
call  His  servants  from  their  tasks,  when  to  bring 
every  pilgrim  home,  and  has  in  view  absolutely 
all  the  circumstances  and  interests  involved. 
He  does  nothing  purposeless  or  aimless,  even 
when  He  wraps  a  whole  city  in  flood  and  fire.* 
He  that  appoints  the  fall  of  every  sparrow 
remembers  you,  remembers  me,  knows  just  what 
we  can  bear  and  ought  to  bear,  just  what  we 
can  spare  and  when  we  can  spare  it  best,  and 
has  in  view  all  our  interests,  bodily,  temporal, 
and  spiritual,  as  we  never  could  possibly  have 
them  in  view  for  ourselves. 

To  say  that  we  are  afflicted  is  to  say  little 
or  nothing.  There  are  experiences  that  are  so 
sad  and  painful  that  words  of  description  do 
but  play  over  them,  like  the  mists  exhaled  from 
the  dark  river,  telling  us  nothing  of  the  drown- 
ing  depths   beneath.     We   who    minister    to-day 


*An  allusion  to  the   terrible  disasters  which  had  just  befallen  the 
towns  of  Oil  City  and  Titusville  on  the  river  below. 


34  BDDress. 

in  this  funeral  know  each  one  what  it  is  to  lose 
a  dear  and  honored  father.  And  we  know, 
too,  what  these  bereaved  ones  know  —  what  it  is 
to  be  guided  and  inspired  b}'  a  sacred  memory 
that,  like  a  benign  lode-star,  cheers  every  labor 
and  sweetens  every  cup  along  every  mile  of 
the  weary  Avay. 

The  question,  "Who  was  their  father? "=^  is 
a  question  which  we  are  proud  and  happy  to 
answer. 

Oh  what  an  inheritance  these  dear  friends  of 
ours  have  in  the  fragrant  memory  of  the  good 
and  noble  man  whom  God  has  called  up  higher  : 

I  know  some  words  of  description  in  the 
Bible  the  application  of  which  you  will  all 
recognize : 

"Lord,  who  shall  abide  in  thy  tabernacle? 
who  shall  dwell  in  thy  holy  hill  ?  He  that 
walketh    uprightly,    and    worketh    righteousness, 


=  1.  Samuel  lo:  12. 


BDDress.  35 

and  speaketh  the  truth  in  his  heart.  He  that 
backbiteth  not  with  his  tongue,  nor  doeth  evil  to 
his  neighbor,  nor  taketh  up  a  reproach  against 
his  neighbor.  In  whose  eyes  a  vile  person  is 
contemned ;  but  he  honoreth  them  that  fear 
the  Lord.  He  that  sweareth  to  his  own  hurt, 
and  changeth  not."* 

For  me,  this  whole  place  is  full  of  Mr. 
Wheeler,  these  roads  and  walks,  these  trees, 
that  mountain  path,  and  the  sweetly  winding 
Allegany.  But  we  know  that  the  master  is 
really  gone ;  and  the  mountain  that  he  knows 
now  is  the  high  mighty  hill  of  God,  and  the 
river  he  knows  now  is  that  which  nvakes  glad 
the  city  of  God. 

*  Psalm  15. 


Xetters. 


[The  following  are  selected  from  the  numerous  tributes  of 
sympathy  and  affection  that  were  received  by  the  family  of  Mr. 
Wheeler    immediately    after    the    news    of   his    death.] 


A  long,  happy,  successful  and  useful  life  has 
reached  the  earthly  ending. 

And  we  who  believe  in  the  gospel  of  immor- 
tality have  come  to  regard  the  ending  as  but 
the  beginning  of  life.  Death  does  not  end  all. 
After  the  night  comes  the  day.  Spring  follows 
Winter.      Death   blossoms    into    life    everlasting. 

This  was  Mr.  Wheeler's  firm  and  life-long 
faith.     In  that  faith  he  has  fallen  asleep  : 

"Asleep  in  Jesus!    peaceful  rest, 
Whose  waking  is  supremely  blest." 


letters.  37 

I  knew  your  husband  for  thirty-five  years. 
He  always  received  me  with  kindness  from  the 
first  day  that  I  visited  Portville.  I  have  had 
many  conversations  with  him.  I  always  found 
him  the  same  genial  and  generous  friend. 

What    changes   have   taken    place    in    the    old 

Portville  homes  !     How  the  good  and  true  men 

and  women  of  that  little  town,  having  finished 

their  labors,  have  been  borne  up  the  hill  to  the 

quiet  cemetery  for  the  long  and  unbroken  rest  ! 

And    I    rejoice    to   feel    that    Heaven    is    richer 

because    of  the    simple,  earnest,  sturdy    faith  of 

these    dear   old    Portville    saints   and   neighbors. 

I  am  sorry  that  personal  illness  keeps  me  from 

the    services     tomorrow ;     but     I    ask     you    to 

remember    me    as    a    sympathizer    with    you  and 

the    children,    and    with    the    church   so    sorely 

bereaved  at  this  time. 

J.   H.   V. 


23.3G.14 


38  Xetters. 

I  was  greatly  shocked  on  learning,  through 
the  brief  notice  in  last  week's  Evangelist,  of 
your  deep  affliction.  And  now  the  fuller  but 
still  too  meagre  words  in  the  Olean  paper 
received  today,  bring  back  anew  the  memories 
of  the  past. 

The  Times  justly  speaks  of  your  father's 
eminence  and  worth  in  the  local  business  enter- 
prises of  Portville  and  Olean,  of  his  church 
connection,  and  of  liis  unblemished  character 
as  manifested  in  his  consistent  Christian  life 
and  generous  pliilanlhropy.  Many  beyond  the 
bounds  of  his  own  community  and  county 
know  full  well  the  truth  of  this.  As  one  of 
these,  I  wish  to  refer  to  one  phase  of  his  life 
naturally  unmentioned  in  the   Times. 

When  I  first  became  acquainted  witli  the  old 
Presbytery  of  Genesee  Valley,  your  father  was 
one  of  its  oldest  members.  Every  one  looked 
up  to  him  with  respect  and  admiration.  His 
unassuming  manner,   his  excellent  judgment,   his 


XcttCl£!.  39 

good,  practical  common  sense  (as  rare  and 
valuable  in  an  ecclesiastical  body  as  elsewhere), 
his  business  ability,  his  genial  way  and  happy 
faculty  of  making  others  happy  and  good- 
natured,  made  him  recognized  though  scarcely 
a  self-acknowledged  power  in  Presbytery.  Every 
member  felt  better,  the  whole  Presbytery  inas 
better  whenever  he  was  present. 

The  old  Presbytery  is  a  thing  of  the  past ; 
but  the  members  will  never  forget  the  quiet, 
earnest,  cheerful,  helpful  fellow Miiember  who 
was  the  recognized  head  of  all,  and  whose 
influence  for  good    remains  with    every   one. 

You  have  my  heartfelt  sympathy  in  this  your 

great  sorrow. 

C.    P.  A. 


I  cannot  express  to  you  our  sorrow  on 
hearing  of  Mr.  Wheeler's  death.  But  for  the 
fact  that  I  must  leave  the  city  this  afternoon  to 


40  Xetters. 

keep  an  engagement  west,  we  would  have  gone 
to  the  funeral  to-day- 
Yesterday,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Ran- 
dolph Children's  Home,  there  was  one  universal 
expression  of  regret,  and  Mr.  Wheeler's  visit 
there  last  fall,  and  kindness  to  the  institution 
always,  were  happily  brought  to  mind. 

The    trees   he    planted    there    so    thoughtfully 

are  all  growing  while  he  is  gone. 

G.  V.   F. 


I  can  scarcely  realize  that  so  bright,  cheery, 
kind  and  vigorous  a  person  as  Mr.  Wheeler 
was,  has  passed  away.  He  was  a  noble  and 
good  man,  a  most  valuable  citizen,  one  of  the 
most  earnest,  manly  and  consistent  Christians 
I  ever  met,  and  one  of  the  kindest-hearted  and 
most  genial  of  hosts  and  friends.  Few  men 
have  I  ever  met  in  a  social,  hospitable  way,  whom 
I  revered  and  honored  so  much  as  I  did  INIr. 
Wheeler. 


His  life  was  so  full  of  good  deeds,  kindly 
acts,  noble  aims  and  substantial  success  and 
honors  that  it  made  a  grand  life  history. 

And  when  the  kind  Father  has  taken  away 
some  of  the  present  bitter  sorrow  and  enables 
you  to  look  backwards  and  forwards,  surely  it 
will  be  some  consolation  to  you  to  know,  not 
only  that  your  friends  have  shared  in  your 
sorrow  and  affliction,  but  that  they  and  the 
community  in  which  he  lived  and  those  who 
knew  him  throughout  the  land,  think  of  him  as 
a  noble  man,  who  was  permitted  to  have  a  long 
and  very  useful  life,  and  whose  influence  for 
morality,  integrity  and  Christianity  was  felt  by 
all  around  him  and  all  who  knew  him,  and  that 
that  influence  will  continue  on  into  the  far 
future. 

Such  a  life,    with    such    a   record    is  indeed  a 

noble  heritage  to  hand  down. 

J.   S.   C. 


42  Xettei-s. 

It  is  good  of  you  to  write  me  now,  and  to 
let  me  stand  beside  you  in  spirit  as  I  do  to-day 
while  you  lay  your  father's  honored  head  upon 
its  last  pillow. 

My  mind  has  been  lately  full  of  you  all,  and 
of  the  anticipation  of  seeing  your  unbroken 
circle ;  and  I  cannot  yet  realize  that  he,  the 
wise,  tender,  strong,  genial  father  is  missing 
from  your  head. 

I  mourn  with  you.  I  rejoice  with  you;  but  it 
is  not  for  me  to  offer  you  words  of  consolation. 
You  have  already  all  that  can  give  comfort. 

Never  had  an  afflicted  family  such  fountains 
to  draw  from.  He,  and  you  all,  have  long 
since  learned  to  trust  the  will,  the  wisdom,  the 
love  of  our  Father  in  Heaven.  You  all  had 
the  blessed  privilege  of  watching  together  beside 
him  to  his  last  sigh.  You  have  the  memory  of 
his  rare  and  beautiful  life,  and  you  have  the 
blessedness  of  a  singularly  united  family  affec- 
tion,   bound    up    in    constant    communion    with 


your  sainted  father  for  many    years    beyond  the 

common  privilege  of   life. 

May   the    God    of    all    consolation    give    you 

comfort  and  peace. 

E.   A.   F. 


This  morning's  mail  brings  me  a  letter  tell- 
ing me  of  all  you  have  been  called  to  go  through 
in  these  last  days,  and  that  now  God  has  taken 
your  father  home. 

The  "word"  that  comes  to  me  as  I  think  of 
it  is,  "  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the 
death  of  His  saints."  I  think  I  never  before  had 
such  a  sense  of  the  comfort  there  is  in  those 
words.  To  think  that  those  who  go  from  us 
not  only  enter  into  "  peace  that  passeth  all 
understanding,"  but  that  they  are  waited  for, 
looked  for  with  joy,  and  that  their  entrance 
into  their  heavenly  home  is  precious  to  their 
and  our  Father  in  Heaven.  Should  it  not 
comfort  our  hearts  ? 


44  iLctters. 

You  may  know  that  I  am  looking  forward  to 
welcoming  my  sister  here  to-night.  With  all 
the  joy  this  anticipation  brings  to  me,  it  can 
only  give  me  a  feeble  sense  of  that  infinite  joy 
of  the  Father's  heart.  Let  us  rejoice  and  be 
exceeding  glad. 

The  sorrow  and  the  pain  must  come,  but 
"  thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

What  more  can  I  say  after  words  of  such 
deep  comfort. 

"May  the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon 

thee,  and  give  thee  peace." 

M.   N. 


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Wm.P 


5     A  discourse 

Cliriera3^_of^jioru 
•Wheeler, 


AA    000  661  706    2 


